Page 62 of King of the Unsightly

“So, how about now?” I lowered a brow, curiously.

Gren tipped his head. A myriad of emotions flickered across his face, and then he avoided my stare and looked back ahead.

He knew exactly what I meant.

Gren sucked in a short breath as he tinkered with the end of his shirt. “Your mother ... well.” He wrinkled his nose. “I guess to others it looked like she ran an animal sanctuary,” he said as a shaky laugh withdrew from his throat.

Without hesitation, I grabbed his wrist and gave him a reassuring nod. I hadn’t taken into account his past could be traumatic ... like mine. Was it selfish to pry for answers?

I squeezed his hand. “We can wait until we’re free from”—I looked around and then back at him—“this horrible situation.”

But if I was being truthful with myself, I didn’t want to wait any longer.

I had been waiting my whole life, but maybe pushing for answers wasn’t always the best way to go about things. Everyone could have a past they didn’t want to remember. I knew that more than anyone.

I let go of his hand and twirled my thumbs as we hiked up this never-ending mountain. I almost tumbled over a couple of sharp rocks as my feet continued to drag me forward.

Kaschel and Levisus were in a deep conversation as Ryas looked incredibly bored.

My eyes lingered back to Gren.

He smiled, but his lowered chin overshadowed his false reassurance and told me he was anything but fine.

“For familiars, living without a witch or contract puts a target on our backs. If we’re caught without one, we run the risk of being hunted for spells. It’s how I lost my eye.” He grazed his fingers across his scar, and his face clouded with dread but vanished instantaneously. “But your mother saved my brothers and me from a much worse fate, and that’s when I met you.” Gren trailed off as he kept his focus in front of us.

“So, she... she did this to me? She bound me to the key? Did she also steal my memories, or am I protecting myself and blocking out something horrible that happened when I was a child?” My voice cracked, but the wind thrashing against the hollow trees obscured it.

Gren’s expression told me everything.

My hands shook, violently.

From the cold.

Or so I told myself.

What gave her the right to steal my memories from me? What gave her the right to bind me to a key that would bring me nothing but trouble?

The rage boiled within me and tainted me to my core.

I was livid.

What good would have come from any of this? What was shethinking?

My mind spun webs of venomous deceit until Gren gripped my shoulders, snapping me out of my spiraling mind. “All I know is she made my brothers and I swear to protect you if she didn’t return. An oath formed from blood and magic. She was desperate, but she loved you. I swear.”

I got lost in Gren’s eye like it was a void pulling me in, nullifying all my tension.

His words indicated he cared for my mother, but all I had were tarnished memories of her leaving me behind withthem.

I sucked in a breath.

No. It didn’t matter.

I had to tell myself—it existed only in the past. And I couldn’t let it control me anymore, or the fear would consume me.

I could work through this.

I was okay.

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